Easter Monday, 17 April 2006

Being "un jour feriere" (public holiday), we were not sure what would be open/closed. So, we took the predictable option of a stroll up and down the Elysian Fields also known as the Champs Elysee. We wanted to go to the Musee de L'Ongerie which houses many of the famous of Monet, especially his water-lillies but we discovered it is closed for upgrading (how do you upgrade a Monet?) and although the signs say it will reopen in 2005, this is, after all, Paris; where time seems in more than one way, to stand still. We had to settle for a walk up past all of the amazing sights on the Champs Elysee.

We had lunch on the Boulevard in a lovely bistro which catered to our tastes marred only by the fact that almost everyone smokes everywhere. And that includes at the table between courses (is that "intercourse" smoking? and "how was it for you?") and without consideration for other diners. A few restaurants are now offering un "espace non fumeur" or non-smoking area and we must all start asking for it to get the ball rolling. We admired some wonderful clothes by all the top designers and wondered where ordinary people shopped. In one terribly exclusive shop we saw a pair of jeans priced at 400 euros or about 800 Australian dollars. They looked as if they needed to go straight-away for repairs if the condition around the knees and bum were any indication.

Having walked off our lunch we treated ourselves to an almond biscuit then back to our suburban way of life in Montmartre for grocery shopping, laundry and all that jazz.